Hampton Roads reports continued seller’s market for homes

The Hampton Roads area was still seeing a tight market for homebuyers in July, according to the Real Estate Information Network Inc.’s latest report on the region. Compared to July 2020, there was a 17.13% decrease in active listings last month, along with higher prices.

REIN, using the region’s Multiple Listing Service data, reported there were 4,621 active listings in July, compared to 5,576 a year ago. The median residential sales price last month was $300,000, a 9.09% increase from last year’s median price and the highest average this year. The median price in June 2021 was $298,470 and in May, $290,000, a nearly 3.5% increase over the past two months.

“The limited number of listings as compared to last year indicates that supply is still lagging and is keeping us in a seller’s market,” REIN Board President Harry Cross said in a statement. “This also tells us why the average price keeps climbing — more demand than supply.”

Listings increased slightly from June, which recorded 4,220 active listings. Traditionally, August is a slower months for sales, Cross said, but if interest rates remain low, demand is likely to be steady. Year-over-year, REIN reported that settled sales increased by 6.32% in July 2021 compared to July 2020, and inventory was down by 32.88% from last year. In the month’s supply of inventory — reflecting the amount of time it would take to sell every available home on the market without adding new homes — the number was at 1.47 months last month, compared to 2.19 in July 2020.